


Fall Like Ashes, Rise Like Fire

by Kamidani



Series: I'll Take My Time, Coming Home To You [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: And Riku is here to save him like always, And also because Dragon Riku, Dragon Riku, Dream Eater Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Gen, Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers, Really this is just an excuse to write them being disgustingly cute, Soft Soriku, Sora can't sleep since DDD, dorks being cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 20:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18630688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamidani/pseuds/Kamidani
Summary: As it turns out, dreams are a lot more peaceful when your best friend can dive into them whenever he wants and save you from whatever nightmare haunts you.Of course, then you have to deal with *how* your friend decided to save you.





	Fall Like Ashes, Rise Like Fire

**Author's Note:**

> This exists because every last person in the discord is a stinking enabler. I should be working on Sandcastle Kingdoms, but no, instead I screamed at a google doc for two hours to make this. Enjoy my soriku fueled ramblings (platonic or romantic? That's completely up to you.)

For Sora, falling was hardly unusual. Neither was it deadly, seeing as he had somehow bent even the sky to his will. He could glide, he could fly, he could call the winds to his hand with hardly an extra thought.   
  
But all of these skills meant nothing when you were trapped in a nightmare.   
  
Sora screamed as he fell, in fear at his helplessness, and in rage, because he _knew_ this was a nightmare. He knew that if he could only get his heart to cooperate he could wake himself up, pull his mind away from the images that haunted him every time he closed his eyes. But fear cloaked his mind and addled his wits, and so he watched the ground approach and waited for the phantom of pain to shock him into wakefulness. Somewhere far above him, an apparition in a black coat watched his descent with quiet glee, and Sora desperately wished he could fly back up there and fight him now.   
  
Of  _ course _ they wouldn't ever let him rest. Not even now, on this fated eve before he and the other Guardians of Light would face Xehanort for the last time. The ground drew closer, slowly, _slowly_ , and Sora shut his eyes. He wasn't brave enough to watch.   
  
He knew he would wake up screaming, though he dearly wished he could withhold it just this once. Just because he couldn't get a full night's rest didn't mean the others shouldn't either. He could see it now: Kairi's bleary eyed concern, Riku hovering over him with nervous hands, piercing him with those aquamarine eyes, calling his name out desperately-   
  
Wait.   
  
That- Riku?   
  
Sora opened his eyes, forced his torso to twist so that he could face the large expanse above him. And there, falling toward him with eyes narrowed in pure determination, was Riku. He wasn't younger like he'd been in the other dream. No, this was the older Riku, the one he'd barely gotten a chance to know yet, clad in dark fabric that matched his own vestments.   
  
"Riku, what are you doing here?" Sora called, yelling over the howling of the wind. Whether his words reached his friend, he couldn't know. Sora took the chance, twisted around to check how far away the surface was. He gasped  _ -he was running out of time he was going to die he was going to wake up clutching his chest as his whole body ached with pains too real to be just a dream- _ and then there were arms encircling him, holding him against a broad, sturdy chest.   
  
"I got you," Riku murmured right next to his ear, and then he was  _ shifting _ . Sora couldn't see what was happening, trapped facing the ground as he was, but he could feel Riku  _ growing breaking mending folding _ behind him. For a moment, Riku's grip faltered, and Sora was free falling again. His breath caught in his throat- Riku would never drop him, would he?- but then something larger was curling around him from either side, caging him in and slowing his descent. Sora managed to twist around as they did so, and looked up in awe at the creature Riku had become.   
  
Above him was an endless plain of rippling silver scales, reflecting the light in every color he could imagine and then some. Far above him where Riku's head now was, he could just see the way light filtered through aquamarine fins the same color as his eyes. Muscle shifted under taut skin, tensing with every beat of his silken wings. Those wings looked paper thin, like they'd tear at the slightest resistance, but they scooped up the air and  _ pushed _ , and just like that they were flying parallel to the ground instead of towards it.   
  
Sora could feel it, the pull on his bones as they defied gravity, the ache as they shot across the sky and left terra firma far behind them. They were rising, they were  _ flying _ , and Sora let himself go lax in his hammock of onyx claws. He was dazed and weary, his heart still pounding from the fear that had flooded him before. But Riku was here now, and that brought him far more comfort than he cared to admit. So he let his eyes drift shut and waited. He had no doubt that Riku knew his dreams better than he did.   
  
Far below them the barren stone slowly shifted to verdant green grass and massive, spreading oaks. Riku didn't stop flying until the cliff Sora had fallen from faded over the edge of the horizon. Rolling hills spread beneath them in every direction, and when Riku finally did let them approach the ground, it was with slow, measured caution.   
  
He let his hind legs, equipped with large, blunt claws, hit the ground first as his wings beat just often enough to hover. Then he let his forequarters approach the ground, setting Sora down softly before dropping to the ground with a thump. Sora laughed in delight as Riku's large angled head lowered down to his level, peering at him with one slitted eye.   
  
"You came to save me," Sora murmured, placing one hand on his companion's scaled cheek. "You showed up just in time." A deep rumble, like the groan of a furnace echoed from Riku's ribcage, and the slit of his pupil slowly expanded as his fear for Sora abated. Sora giggled at the feel of the vibration it caused against his palm. "How did you do this? I know this is a dream, but…" He trailed off, eyeing the emblem inscribed in the center of Riku's forehead. It was subtle, but the sign of the Dream Eaters was inscribed in the scales there, and when the light hit it just right it sparkled.   
  
"Of course," Sora sighed. "I guess that even though the test is over, you'd still be my Dream Eater." He huffed out a sigh, letting his hand drift over to rub at the ridge above Riku's eye. He leaned into it and rumbled appreciatively. "Figures that you'd have to come and save me again…" Riku lifted his head above Sora's reach and warbled at him. Sora sighed.   
  
"Think you can change back to a more manageable size so I can actually understand you?" he called up. The only response he got was the spread of Riku's adamantine wings, circling around him and trapping him in a tent that reflected rainbows every which way. Sora huffed as those onyx claws wrapped around his waist and pulled him closer. Riku, for his part, chuffed at Sora smugly and settled to the ground like a cat. The trees left dappled shadows on the sides of his wings, and the grass was cool under Sora's palms when he sat on the ground, leaning back against the rough pad of his friend's claws. It was peaceful in it's own way, though the sunlight was a little too crisp to be real, the sway of the shadows too perfectly timed.   
  
Riku nuzzled him with aching gentleness, his nose pressing into Sora's stomach just enough to be a comforting pressure. Sora sighed and leaned into it, wrapping his arms around him as best he could.   
  
"Sorry for being so grumpy," he muttered into cool scales. "I just… I'm so tired of nightmares. Tonight of all nights I just wanted to sleep without waking up to... him. Them. Any of this, really. I haven't slept well since the test…" An angry grumbling rose up around him, echoed and amplified by the tent of scales around him. Sora chuckled, a hollow, empty sound. "Not your fault, Riku. We both had our own missions to complete. I've kinda resigned myself to the fact that the path to being a Keyblade Master is going to lead me away from you before it leads me towards you." For a moment, his words were received with absolute silence.   
  
Riku's head lifted up and away from him. Reclined as he was in Riku's claws, he could feel the exact moment when Riku tensed up in irritation. The cerulean fins on the sides of his head flared out, brushing up against the curved obsidian horns that extended from his temples, and made a sound like a snake's rattle as they quivered in rage. Sora mourned the loss of the radiating warmth this new form of Riku's brought, but he was rightfully intimidated by the threat display.   
  
"Riku? Come on, it's not that big a deal. We knew we'd have to work separately to find all the missing Guardians of Light!" Sora surged to his feet, dodging away when Riku tried to nudge him back down with his nose. He shoved his way out from under the edge of Riku's wing, causing his draconian companion to let out a whine of distress. The wings retracted and folded back to his sides with a sound reminiscent of the sails on the great masted ships. Though, this dragon shape Riku had adopted was much more lean and aerodynamic than the Black Pearl would ever be. He was all angles and sharp edges. The only exception was his nose, soft and smooth, a pale white compared to the vivid shine of his scales. Once Sora was sure Riku wasn't going to try and scoop him up in his claws again, he continued.   
  
"Aqua and Ven are waiting for us in the waking world, remember? Even though I hate being so far away from you, we succeeded in the end." The musical warble that met his statement startled a laugh out of him. "I survived. Having the gummiphone helped. Actually-" He dug out his phone from his pocket and frowned at the screen. A few quick button presses told him all he needed to know. "Huh. Guess they don't work in the Realm of Sleep. Phooey." He stuffed it back in his pocket with a disappointed sigh. Oh, well. With any luck that particular shortcoming wouldn't ever be a problem anyways.   
  
When he looked up, he was met with a toothy grin. It was incredibly intimidating, up until Sora noticed how Riku's pupils had dilated in a classic sign of feline excitement. Immediately he took a step back, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Riku? What are you plan- HEY!" Sora yelped as those massive jaws descended on him, snapping shut just above his hair. For a moment, Sora wondered if Riku had missed his mark. What had he even been aiming for?   
  
His question was very quickly answered as he felt his jacket tighten around his shoulders, and he was lifted above the ground. Riku had very cleverly snagged his hood in his teeth, and had him held high above the ground. Considering that Sora barely came up to the bottom of his shoulder joint, he was well and truly stuck there, dangling limply. Riku managed to walk as lightly as a momma cat carrying her kitten rather than the massive creature he was, and Sora snorted at how proud he looked even from his poor vantage point.   
  
"Well, I hope you're happy," he grumbled. "What now, Spyro?" Riku ignored his teasing and purred loudly, quite pleased with himself. He padded over to one of the larger trees, its spreading branches clawing at the sky far above even Riku's impressive reach. Riku circled the ground, and Sora laughed as he patted the grass down like a dog settling down for a nap. When Riku was finally satisfied, he laid down with a harrumph, the grass rippling around them with the breeze from his descent. Sora was deposited softly by his side, tucked between his foreleg and his long, broad tail. Once he was safely on the ground once again, Riku nosed his hair gently, sniffing and whuffling at the auburn spikes.   
  
"Oh, get off you big dumb lizard." Sora shoved at his snout with no success, and resigned himself to the curse of dragon breath. The large feather like appendages on Riku's tail shook in the gentle breeze, and Sora ran a hand over them reverently. Of  _ course _ his best friend could dive into his dreams and turn into a badass dragon.  _ Why not. _   
  
"You planning on turning back to normal anytime soon? Or are you gonna stay like this and annoy me with how tall you are?" Based on the deep sound emanating from Riku's chest (which happened to sound just like his real laugh, low and musical), he guessed it was the latter. He settled against the scales at his back that shimmered like opal and sighed. It  _ was _ quite nice here. Even if his mind was awake, at least his body was asleep. He'd be able to manage tomorrow, when the final battle began.   
  
He shuddered. For a moment, he'd forgotten all about the impending war. For a moment, there had been no Keyblades, no ancient history to avoid repeating. There was just him, the open sky, and his big dumb worried friend. Riku curled his head around so he could lay it next to Sora's feet. A great rumbling purr resonated from his ribcage, cracked and broken but soothing nonetheless. Sora sighed and relaxed into it.   
  
"I really don't know what I'd do without you, Riku. You always manage to find a way to come and save me." Riku sighed in response, sending a wave through the tall grasses in front of his nose. Sora chuckled and let his eyes drift shut, content to doze in this world of dreams. "Maybe I'll return the favor someday."   
  
Riku huffed and snuggled closer, making a perfect windbreak. It was peaceful here. The sun hadn't moved since they'd arrived, and the dappled dance of shadows cooled the air around them to the perfect temperature. It was like time had stopped just for them, wound back to the prettiest of spring days. "I guess this isn't the worst way to spend the night," Sora mused. "Then tomorrow…"   
  
"Tomorrow we end this."

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I'm weak for dragons and Dream Eater Riku, and apparently so are my buddies in the server. I have no excuses, and I will not give any.


End file.
